The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 240 points, or 0.28%, to 84,868, while the NSE Nifty 50 advanced 77 points, or 0.29%, to 26,009.
On the 30-share Sensex, Asian Paints, L&T, Reliance Industries, Trent, and Tata Steel led the gainers, advancing between 1% and 1.5%.
The broader market showed a mixed trend, with the midcap index up 0.2% while the smallcap index slipped 0.1%.
Among sectors, oil and gas stocks outperformed, rising 0.8% to lead gains on the benchmarks.
Investor focus remains on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy decision later today, with markets pricing in a 99.9% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.Expert Views
Globally stock markets continue to be bullish aided by the sustained uptrend in the mother market U.S. where AI related deals and news are driving tech stocks up, said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategistat Geojit Investments, adding that the market today is likely to get another positive news from the Fed which is expected to cut rates by 25 bps, but more important than the rate decision will be the Fed commentary on quantitative tightening.
“Nifty’s gain of 1300 points in the October series has strengthened the mildly bullish undertone of the market. This has the potential to continue in November helping the Nifty reach an all time high soon. The fairly-valued Nifty Bankex is well placed to lead the rally in the market. Strong and steady large cap bluechips like Bharti Airtel, RIL and L&T can lend support to the Nifty,” said Vijayakumar.
In technical terms, the sharp pull back after briefly pushing above 26,000 gave some panicky moments, said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Investments, adding that “the doji formed by close confirms our view that there is not enough bearishness at the moment to play for a 25590-400 move as feared earlier. As long as above 25900, expect renewed efforts to push higher, with eyes on 26186-250.”
Global Markets
Asian shares rose Wednesday, tracking Wall Street’s record highs, as optimism over artificial intelligence and expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut lifted sentiment.
Bonds gained and the dollar weakened, with traders betting that Wednesday’s widely expected Fed cut won’t be the last this year.
Overnight, U.S. stocks hit fresh records after upbeat updates from Nvidia and Microsoft. Nvidia reported $500 billion in AI chip bookings and plans to build seven supercomputers for the U.S. Department of Energy, while Microsoft secured approval for OpenAI to restructure as a public benefit corporation, giving it a 27% stake in the ChatGPT maker.
The news fueled a rally across Asia, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.16%, Japan’s Nikkei jumping more than 1% to another record, and South Korea’s Kospi also touching an all-time high.
Nasdaq futures edged up 0.06%, S&P 500 futures were flat, and EUROSTOXX 50 futures slipped 0.14%.
Gold traded just below $4,000 an ounce, pressured by rising risk appetite and a shakeout of leveraged positions after recent sharp declines.
FII/DII Tracker
On the institutional front, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net buyers, purchasing equities worth nearly Rs 10,340 crore on October 28, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,081.55 crore.
Crude impact
Oil prices inched higher Wednesday after three days of losses, supported by a decline in U.S. crude inventories, though worries over Russian sanctions and a possible OPEC+ output hike limited gains.
Brent crude futures rose 20 cents, or 0.31%, to $64.60 a barrel at 0203 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained 18 cents, or 0.3%, to $60.33.
Rupee vs Dollar
The Indian rupee opened slightly higher on Wednesday, up 0.06% at 88.21 per U.S. dollar compared with 88.2650 in the previous session, as likely central bank support helped offset importer dollar demand ahead of an expected Federal Reserve rate cut.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major peers, was steady at 98.681 after slipping 0.1% on Tuesday, marking its second straight day of losses.
(with inputs from agencies)